Saturday, October 31, 2009

Monday, October 26, 2009

FUJI TV was in town over the weekend, and it seems they are avid readers of this blog - for yours truly was asked to remake the F-Train CharabenLIVE! for the Japanese television station's morning news program. Great, right? Well, initially the arrangement was a bust - I had planned on working the weekend and just didn't have time to do an o-bento.

But the charaben gods could not be bested. I showed up for work (where all my files were) only to find the elevator broken. No super. No access through the stairs. No work for the weekend!

This isn't good news, actually - I'm someone who operates based on self-imposed deadlines. Deadlines for books. Deadlines that effect a small publisher that need these books finished to make money in order to make other books...

However, I wasn't about to let my weekend be rained on, so I took this as a great opportunity to wow the Japanese viewing public with not one but two charaben! And here they are:

Laputa Robot

F-Train Redux

Laputa

Robot Body - fried tofu glazed in honey + sprinkled in sesame

Eyes/Mouth - nori

Sun - tomato + yellow pepper

Heart - tomato

F-Train Redux

Train - rice

Train front - nori, swiss cheese, tomato

"F" label - carrot + nori

Rails - faux beef cubes + nori

In addition to laundry duties, my Sunday morning was spent making both of these delicious fellers while fighting off my frisky-when-you-don't-want-him-to-be cat, Desnos. Then, around lunch time, I received a phone call from Adri (MBP PR) telling me the interview had to be canceled.

:-(

Sorry, Fuji, for being locked out of my office. As you can see above, I really was ready and excited for this. Maybe next time?

Monday, October 5, 2009

Gourmet Magazine has - shockingly - slammed shut its doors. 68 years in print - Quite a run, no? But word is: staff were told to clear out their desks in just 48 hours. Tough work for those that have spent years with the company, their lives partially stored on company shelves. Respect, Condé Nast. Respect.

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WHAT IS THIS BLOG ABOUT?

Food shaped like things...other than food! A bit of an obsession of mine - I've made two books about Japanese character bentos (charaben). Consider this an online, ever-expanding companion to Face Food Recipes and Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes, both released by Mark Batty Publisher.